Holiday Buying Guide: Léoville-Barton, Bordeaux Château of 2023
Co-owner and Bordeaux Buyer Clyde Beffa Jr. with Lilian Barton-Sartorius, daughter of Anthony Barton and owner of Léoville-Barton.
My Top Bordeaux Château of 2023: Léoville-Barton
In my almost 40 years of travelling to Bordeaux, I have met many wonderful people. I must say my Bordeaux Magnificent Seven consists of the following:
Mike Temple (RIP), the owner of Grape Expectations who took me to Bordeaux on my first trip in 1985 and brought K&L Wines into California for many years.
Bill Blatch, the first Bordeaux négociant to take me to all the fabled properties in Bordeaux from 1985 well into the 2000s. I still see him yearly in Bordeaux.
Miklos Dora (RIP), best friend of the Baron Phillip de Rothschild and the person responsible for bringing Mouton-Rothschild to the U.S. He was also responsible for getting Robert Mondavi together with the Baron to start the Opus One project in the late ‘70s. We were great friends from the mid ‘80s till his passing in 2021 at the age of 107!
Henri VanderVoort (RIP), who brought Bordeaux and French wines to the Bay Area in the ‘40s with his company Bercut VanderVoort. We first met in the early ‘90s, and the K&L team would stay at his Château Bellegrave, Pauillac, in the ‘90s.
Clyde and May-Éliane Lencquesaing.
May-Éliane Lencquesaing, former owner of the fabulous Pichon-Lalande from 1976–2006. We met in 1985 and have been friends ever since. We had a fantastic lunch together this past May in Bordeaux, and she is going strong at 98 years old.
Jean Michel Cazes (RIP), the leader of the famous Château Lynch-Bages from 1976 til his passing this year. We also met in the mid-1980s and stayed in contact up until his death.
And, last but not least:
Anthony Barton (RIP), the boss at the St-Julien properties Langoa-Barton and Léoville-Barton from the early 1980s until his death in 2022. We also met in the mid-1980s, and tasted together until about 2020 and were good friends for many years. The rest of this article has to do with the outstanding wines of Château Léoville-Barton—my pick for K&L’s Bordeaux Château of the Year 2023.
Clyde and Anthony Barton.
I love the wines from Léoville-Barton.They are a true delight to drink, and they offer fabulous values in today’s high-priced Bordeaux market. Very much Cabernet Sauvignon–based, Léoville-Barton makes full-flavored, old-school Bordeaux wines that are very fairly priced. We have many vintages in stock (back to 1995) and offer a fine selection of Bartons.
Pre-Arrival
2001 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien (Pre-Arrival) $169.99 96WE
2009 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien (Pre-Arrival) $179.99 98WE
2010 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien (Pre-Arrival) $179.99 100WE
2010 Langoa-Barton, St-Julien (Pre-Arrival) $89.99
2010 Langoa-Barton, St-Julien 12-pack in OWC (Pre-Arrival) $1070.00 93-94 points James Suckling: "What a depth of fruit here, with dark chocolate and currants and blackberries. Full and velvety. Wonderful texture. Like it. Better than 2009." Only 120 bottles available. A truly great Langoa at a special price.
2016 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien (Pre-Arrival) $149.99
2016 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien 6-pack in OWC (Pre-Arrival) $895.00 97 points Wine Spectator: “This is so vivid as it brims with pastis-soaked plum, blackberry, black currant and blueberry paste flavors, all carried by a perfectly integrated brambly spine. Tar and ganache notes give the finish an extra kick while everything stays within the mouthwatering roasted apple wood frame. Both regal and rambunctious, this is St.-Julien to a T. *#1 Top 100 Wines of 2019, Highly Recommended* (JM)” Only 120 bottles available.
In Stock
The 2018 and 2019 Léoville-Bartons are both priced at $119.99 and give you the option of drinking or cellaring.
2018 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien $119.99 97JD 97JS 97WE 97WS 96 points Jane Anson from Inside Bordeaux: "In the hands of the same family since 1826, Léoville-Barton delivers classic St-Julien balance, with plenty of 2018 ripe fleshy fruits that are just starting to show their promise, although you would still do well to forget about this wine for a good five years from now.” Definitely decant if drinking this year or next.
2019 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien $119.99 97JA 97WA 97VN 97 points Jeb Dunnuck: “The flagship 2019 Château Léoville Barton is brilliant, showing both the style of the estate as well as the vintage beautifully. It's never the biggest or richest wine, yet it has a classic, vibrant, structured style that ages beautifully. Pure cassis, black currants, scorched earth, new leather, and graphite are just some of its nuances.”
1999 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien $129.99 I love this wine for drinking now. Almost 25 years old and it is so delicious. Serve it with rack of lamb. Not a well-known vintage, but some 1999s are outstanding values right now. This is one of the big sleepers of the vintage and the region, our current stock is coming direct from the Barton cellars, giving it perfect provenance at over two decades past the vintage. Neal Martin called this (in 2019) a "classic Saint-Julien...drinking perfectly now, though it will give another 12 to 15 years of drinking pleasure." It reminds me of the 1959 vintage. It represents a remarkable cellar-direct opportunity on one of the world's most treasured producers at a remarkable in-stock price.